The #2 was one of the earliest “Warrington-Vulcan” single-acting hammers to be produced. The first one was S/N 6, made for the Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon Railroad Company. The general arrangement for the hammer is above.
Specification Sheets for this hammer are as follows:
The #2 was very popular for a long time; however, it ran into two difficulties from the 1960’s onwards.
The first was that pile specifications were calling for a larger hammer (such as the #1) and contractors found their #2 hammers sitting in the yard with little to do.
The second, from Vulcan’s standpoint, is that the production costs of the #2 were not much less than the #1. When Vulcan produced a #2 for the State of Tennessee in the early 1990’s, it simply took the #1 frame and put a 3,000 lb. ram in it. Since the stroke was longer, more energy was available.
Other information:
- McDermid Bases
- Serial Number Information for the Early #2 Hammers
- The #2 that lasted 120 years, and how it got spare parts to get back into action
